Genovesa
Soon after dawn we slipped into the submerged caldera of the northeastern most island of Genovesa. Captain Pablo Garces lined up the navigation markers on the western coast and at that point the ship glides over the eroded caldera wall with several meters of water below her hull. Genovesa – also called Tower Island – is home to red-footed boobies…a couple hundred thousand of them! So immediately we saw them soaring among dozens of frigate birds along the shore.
As soon as the Captain had dropped anchor, we lowered our fleet of bright yellow kayaks and headed across the bay to paddle along the base of the cliffs. This was a wonderful early outing and we were thrilled to see frigates with their balloon pouches inflated, sea lions and fur seals, a small whale that spouted and dove not far from us, and a huge manta ray. We paddled all the way around the bay and then returned to the ship where we joined the rest of our friends, some of whom had stretched with Maria and others had swum from the ship, for breakfast.
We disembarked on a lovely coralline beach in the corner of Darwin Bay. No sooner had we set foot on shore than we were amazed and enchanted by the variety and activity of countless seabirds. For a short time the sun was wicked hot – but just for us and as if on cue, the clouds blew in and we had a brief, cool rain shower. We have had welcome rains off and on all week long, and some have been literal downpours, but they have always fallen at appropriate times and have never delayed us or diminished our outings. This morning we rejoiced in the rain, and so did the red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, great frigate birds and swallow-tail gulls that were nesting in great numbers in the mangrove shrubs or on the coral sand behind the beach, according to their preferences.
We took countless photos of the glorious details of these lovely marine birds: the red eye rings of the swallow tails, the green sheen on the backs of the frigates, the incredible pastel pinks and blues of the red-footed boobies’ faces. Some of us clambered over the rocks to reach the end of the trail and others turned back at the limit of the sand. And as we walked and learned natural history trivia from our guides the frigate males cooed and trembled with red balloon pouch inflated and wings wide hoping to entice the females that soared above.
Snorkeling, kayaking or beach bumming were the final options of the morning, then lunch and siesta, followed by a wild, loud, hilarious variety show in which both crew and guests joined in!
On the afternoon walk we found and photographed many more red-footed boobies and frigate birds perched among the fragrant palo santo trees and found Nazca boobies at all stages of breeding: courting, with one egg, two eggs and chicks. We also saw half a dozen tawny brown short eared owls. As the sunset among puffy clouds illuminated golden and orange, we motored across the bay to the ship. We took advantage of one final swim in the ocean to end of our fantastic week in these magical islands.
